


Dalliance

by TsarBomba



Category: Elder Scrolls, Elder Scrolls Online
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-22
Updated: 2017-01-22
Packaged: 2018-09-19 02:57:38
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,906
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9414902
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TsarBomba/pseuds/TsarBomba
Summary: Just a bit of high treason.





	

**Author's Note:**

> This is just self-indulgent Nord/Altmer gay trash with little plot a bad title and not even that much sex.

The sky above the port was so uniform in its blueness that it almost looked to have been painted, and the beauty of it was enough for Freydis to almost forget that she was surrounded by individuals who would happily run a sword through her belly should they find out who she was. Skywatch was an appropriate name for the city, for even at the edge of the world where space met the water it was almost impossible to distinguish the two, so from where she stood above the docks it felt as though she were not looking across the sea at all, but beyond a void that she could step into and eventually fall in amongst the stars on the other side. 

Freydis smiled at herself, she would not be the warrior-poet she fancied herself to be if she were incapable of taking in the beauty of the world around her, and turned her gaze upwards and blinked once as she glanced at the sun at the zenith of the heavens. Noon. It was about time to move. She stepped away from her post at the docks, one hand resting easily on the hilt of her stolen sword, eyes staring out from the visor of her stolen helmet. The guard uniform she had pilfered from the barracks fit the length of her body well enough, she was tall even by Nordic standards, but there was not much room between the pauldrons for her powerful shoulders, and her hips strained slightly against the plating along her thighs. The armor had been created for a longer and narrower body than her own. So she held her breath, sucking the air in hard and tensing her ass as she walked, every step stiff and unnatural, her shoulders pulled back. This was not the best impersonation she had seen but she thought it would do the job well enough. To her credit, an Altmer marine nodded to her as they passed each other on her way to the manor, walking, she dared to think, in a manner incredibly similar to her own, and she grinned under her helmet. She was not considered to be among one of King Jorunn's most capable and most trusted agents for nothing, though she greatly doubted he would approve of what she was doing in enemy territory. 

She strode along the cobbled stone pathway, walking just quickly enough to make it look like she had somewhere to be to keep anyone from trying to speak to her, because she knew a single word with her thick Northerner accent would give her away immediately. Still, she used her disguise to her advantage to take in the city as she patrolled during her wait, surveying the sweeping towers and archways, the cleanness of the line and the efficiency of the architecture. A city of cobalt blue and pale greys that reminded her of the sky itself. Freydis, like most of her race, had never cared for elves in general, and the Altmer in particular were perhaps amongst a Nord's most contentious natural enemies, but to deny their artistic ability would be foolish, and Freydis was no fool. It was easy for other races to look down upon hers as brutish and uncultured, sometimes for good reason, but she believed that the best warriors acknowledged the triumphs and the beauty of their foe's creations before destroying them. Such was the nature of their war.

As always, her timing was impeccable. Just as she was approaching the manor, she caught sight of her target as they emerged from the crowd at the merchant's bazaar to walk just in front of her. Cendrillon, Eye of the Queen. Arguably Ayrenn's most capable agent, and a powerful mage. Freydis had seen her in combat once or twice and, loathe as she was to admit it, had been terribly impressed by her sheer destructiveness. She was robed proudly in Dominion colors and her staff was slung over her shoulder, and she left in her wake the scent of a coming storm. Freydis slowed her pace slightly and fell in behind her, far enough back as to not be noticed. The Altmer moved without hurry, her long legs gliding easily across the stone and up the stairs. Guards at the top of the steps opened the door for her and Freydis slid in just as it was closing, acknowledging the guards with a curt nod that was returned automatically. Immediately upon entering the hall she turned right and halted, standing sentry at a vacant post just past the entrance. 

Her intel had been good. Queen Ayrenn herself stood in the throne room beyond the entryway and up a low flight of stairs, thronged on all sides by her Battlereeve and guards and other attendants. Cendrillon stood speaking to her, her line of sight falling just beyond the Queen's shoulder to where Freydis stood. Freydis looked her over, a long figure draped in fancy material, carrying herself with an almost aristocratic ease. Haughty bitch. The elf, as if sensing that there was something amiss, glanced once at Freydis and looked away and then looked at her again and the Nord knew immediately that she had been found out, for Cendrillon just barely narrowed her eyes in recognition even as she continued to speak to her Queen, her brow arching in surprise. Freydis, for the first time since stepping into the city, felt herself begin to sweat beneath her helmet. She had not expected to be seen so early. 

For her part, Cendrillon did not make any indication that one of the Queen's most dangerous enemies was standing not twenty feet away, which told Freydis that either she did not see her as a threat, or she saw her as one that could be easily dispatched should the need arise. Freydis was not sure if it was hubris that kept Cendrillon from pulling her staff and attacking her right then and there or something else. Either way, her and her Queen spoke a few minutes more, then the Queen placed a hand on her shoulder, left it there a moment, and then departed the throne room to retire for the afternoon. Freydis watched the exchange with keen interest, wondering if such a thing might be valuable to her own side. The Queen passed within two feet of Freydis and did not seem to notice her, and Cendrillon herself did not even tense at their proximity. Instead, she stood there for a few moments, entirely quiet, as if deciding exactly how she was going to handle this. Finally she looked at Freydis, no small amount of contempt coloring her eyes. Freydis gave her a mockery of a salute and then turned smartly and began to walk down the hallway, waiting for a signal that she should stop. She could hear footsteps behind her, long, deliberate steps. They walked like this for some time, her armor clanking loudly and those steps inching closer to her heels. She had made it rather far into the keep before Cendrillon finally spoke. 

"Halt."

She halted and did not turn. The Altmer continued to close the distance between them as Freydis stood there. She did not flinch when she felt the dagger press against the back of her neck between her helmet and the collar of her armor, nor when a gloved hand wrapped itself around the front of her throat.

"In here," said a voice, much closer than before. Freydis felt cool breath in her ear and a nudge against her left shoulder. There was nothing in the elf's tone that indicated any sense of alarm or urgency. "Don't say a single word. If you move without permission, you will regret it."

Freydis obeyed, stepping into the room to her right. It looked like a guest room for a dignitary of some sort. Unlived in. They were alone. She stood still, facing the bed, as the door closed and locked behind her. Then she felt a hand on her shoulder move to pull her around rather harshly. She instinctively reached for the sword at her hip but Cendrillon was faster and had the advantage of being out of her line of sight, and in the time that Freydis had pulled her blade she found herself being forced around and then backwards, the staff pressed against her throat, pinning her to the wall, hard enough to hurt but not with enough force that she could not breathe, not yet at least. They stood before each other, the Altmer's hands on either side of Freydis, holding the staff like a bar. 

"Drop it," Cendrillon ordered, her fury boiling just beneath the surface of her visage. Freydis could see it in her eyes, the tautness of her cheeks, the flat line of her lips. Freydis dropped the sword onto the carpet. The Altmer narrowed her eyes at her. "Good. Now tell me what in Oblivion you are doing here."

Freydis sighed and reached up past the staff and pulled her helmet off, depositing it along the sword. Beneath her visor, she had been grinning, and her expression visibly incensed her captor. "How did you know it was me?"

Cendrillon did not look amused at the reveal. Her nostrils flared distastefully. "I could smell you, you brute. You smell like wet dog and cheap ale."

Freydis struggled half-heartedly against the Altmer's hold, trying to relieve some of the weight from her windpipe. "Come on Cen, tell me the truth. What gave it away?"

"Don't call me that," Cendrillon snapped, pushing just a little harder with the staff. "We are not on a first-name basis."

Freydis laughed hoarsely, swallowing painfully against the pressure at her throat. "My tongue has been inside of you, I think we're way past that point."

"Don't be crude," Cendrillon said, though Freydis could tell she was not nearly as furious about the Nord's presence as she wanted to be. There was perhaps even the hint of a smile at her dour mouth. Freydis grinned and "Really though, tell me how you knew."

Cendrillon had relaxed the hold on the staff just slightly but had not released it. Freydis took the bit of space she had gifted her and took a long breath, shifting her feet slightly. "How I knew?" Cendrillon repeated, sneering. "That's like saying you wouldn't notice a horker at a dinner party if it were dressed in an evening gown." She looked her up and down then and shook her head. "Is this men's armor? You couldn't even fit in the women's, could you? You must have the shoulders of a cave troll."

Freydis frowned at her. "I think I look rather sleek in this flowery little get-up. Not that it would do me any favors in actual battle, though I suppose all you elves are good at is looking pretty."

Cendrillon smirked at her, her golden eyes alight. "Oh, you think I'm pretty now do you?"

She was not pretty in Freydis' eyes, no, it was not the correct term, but the Nord appreciated in her what she had appreciated about this city: the precision of her features, the proud angles, long and straight and unforgiving. She looked a lot like a hawk, and a finer word than pretty would be handsome, or perhaps striking. That, and she looked dangerous. This was fine for Freydis, who had always preferred the look of the deadly nightshade to the delicate lily. 

"How did you know I would be here?" Cendrillon asked, and Freydis shrugged at her. 

"Come now," she said mockingly. "I'm the hidden blade of my King, just as you are the eyes of your Queen. We both know that people in our positions sometimes have to move within wider circles than our fellow soldiers."

"Who told you?" Cendrillon demanded, a little push with the staff accentuating her point. Freydis swallowed and when she spoke she sounded strained. "Does it really matter? Call it a mutual friend."

"Was it someone from the Brotherhood?" Cendrillon asked, and Freydis raised her brows in surprise, and immediately the Altmer's face closed off when she realized what she had let slip. 

"My my," Freydis crooned, smirking even as the staff dug in a little harder. "You've been bad."

Cendrillon frowned at her, but Freydis was fairly certain that she had not uttered that bit of information on accident. Not that it was any surprise, someone like Cendrillon could easily make a living on killing. But in spite of her little act, Freydis felt that she had wanted her to know. Perhaps it was meant to intimidate her. Freydis did not question the reason, she herself had dealings with disreputable figures after all. A necessary evil for the good of their kings and queens, and the price they paid for valuable connections and information. 

She was not really interested in addressing each other's less-than-noble associations, however. Instead she took advantage of Cendrillon's momentary distraction and slid her foot behind the Altmer's ankle, kicking it out from underneath her. Cendrillon cursed and tried to angle her staff to get a blow in, but it was too late and Freydis was too strong. She pushed them back, the Altmer grunting as they landed on the bed, the staff dropping uselessly onto the floor as Freydis pinned her arms above her head and straddled her. She grinned at the elf, whose cheeks were just slightly flushed the most lovely shade of pink and whose bosom was rising and falling against Freydis' own in a rather delightful way. "So tell me," Freydis said, her dark hair falling thickly over her shoulders as she stared down at her prey, savoring the rush of a well-executed move, "is the Queen fucking you too? You two looked rather friendly."

"Keep using such obscene language around me and I'll cut your tongue out," Cendrillon murmured, her voice low, her pupils dilated. There was a time she might have on principle, the Nord's accent had been incredibly grating the first few times she had heard her speak. Now, however, she thought it rich, and warm. Melodic. She liked the way R's rolled off her tongue. She liked the way her name sounded as it fell from her lips. 

But Freydis scoffed at her, and this sound was not so pleasing and she tightened her hold around the Altmer's thin wrists, relishing the quiet gasp that came out as a result. "If you cut that out, what am I supposed to use on you?"

Cendrillon laughed at her, the sound humorless and cold even as her darkening eyes betrayed the warmth blooming within her. "I thought you were more creative than that. Now you answer my question, why are you here?"

Freydis snorted. "What gives you the right to ask questions in your position?"

"Tell me."

The Nord gave her a look, one part incredulity and one part suggestive. "It isn't obvious?"

Cendrillon's lips curled. "What made you think I have even a remote interest in a repeat of the last time?"

Freydis tilted her head. "Playing hard to get? Because that wasn't what it sounded like when we parted ways in Orsinium."

Cendrillon huffed and shook her head. "You know as well I do that Orsinium is neutral ground. Just because I had no interest in killing you there doesn't mean I wouldn't do it here. You're in my territory now."

"Perhaps," Freydis said, lowering her head to brush her lips along the tendon at Cendrillon's throat. "Yet you're the one laid out so deliciously beneath me."

She bit down into her flesh, just hard enough, and felt Cendrillon's pulse flutter beneath her teeth. "You said you didn't want to kill me in Orsinium. You did want me though. Do you still? I can leave if you don't, I'll leave right now, but you'll have to say it."

Cendrillon turned her face towards her and studied her with a piercing gaze, took in her mane of hair, recalled the lovely sensation of how it felt across her thighs, ran her gaze along the proud splatter of red warpaint along the slopes of her cheeks, how it contrasted sharply with her pale, hungry eyes. She reminded Cendrillon of a wolf. Her eyes gently closed, just slightly, softening as she regarded her with what could only be described as fondness. "Freydis," she finally said, almost in a whisper. The Nord leaned forward to kiss her, a predatory grin lighting up her features, lowering her guard. Then she felt the air forced out of her lungs as Cendrillon kneed her hard in the gut and flipped them so that it was her on top. Freydis, under fair circumstances, could easily have overpowered the elf and reversed their positions once more, but these were not fair circumstances, and she was entirely out of breath.

"You awful bitch," Freydis croaked, trying hard to curl into herself, but Cendrillon was relentless, and offered no respite as she sat down across Freydis' hips. 

"Can't believe you fell for that," she said, then she leaned forward slightly and her nostrils flared as she breathed her in. She teased the Nord about her smell, but really she smelled like pine and frost, clean and cold, and her skin was always cool to the touch, as though she had just stepped inside from the snow. Cendrillon would never say these things outloud, it did not befit a Mer of her stature, but she was glad to see her. 

And no, she would not be telling the Nord to leave today. She did want her. But she would not say that either. 

"You do realize this is high treason," Cendrillon said, even as she began to unfasten her pauldrons. Freydis seemed to have recovered, because she reached up and swatted the Altmer's hands away so that she could do the job herself. 

"Just a little bit of high treason," Freydis said, moving her hands to work at removing Cendrillon's robes. Muscle memory made this a lot easier than it was the first time. "You and me, this close to our kings and queens, we'd get the chopping block for sure."

Cendrillon sighed, frowning as Freydis yanked the robes down around her shoulders, leaving her bare-chested from the waist up. "You're going to tear them. Again."

Freydis ignored her, tossing the pauldrons and gloves off the bed. They clattered unceremoniously against the floor. 

"And you'll dent those. Have you no consideration for other people's property?"

"Shut up and find something better to do with your mouth," Freydis said, and with that she pulled the elf down by the shoulders and kissed her hard, her hands greedily grasping around her ribs and pulling her closer, one wayward thumb brushing over her breast. Cendrillon bit at her lip and Freydis grinned through the sting of pain, her hand wrapping around the back of her neck, her fingers tangling in blonde hair as she pulled her closer. 

"We don't have much time," Cendrillon breathed between kisses, and Freydis nodded, albeit reluctantly. 

"Then we will have to make the most of it."

Cendrillon wasted no time in removing Freydis' armor, and since it did not belong to her she did not care when it clattered loudly against the floor where she dropped it, not caring that it would be scuffed and dented. After all, it was standard issue. All she did care about was how Freydis' skin felt below her fingers, how she could feel the lines of lean muscle, the crisscross of battle scars. Still cool to the touch, and firm, as if she were carved from stone. 

"Sit up a moment so I can take these off," Freydis said, plucking at the waistband of Cendrillon's breeches. She leaned up and forward on Freydis' hips, felt cool hands push the pants down her thighs and a warm mouth close around her breast. Her eyes fluttered closed for only a moment and then she felt her world spin as, once again, their positions were flipped. Cendrillon scowled as Freydis pushed herself up off the bed to remove the rest of their armor, pulling Cendrillon's pants and boots off with little gentleness. This was a familiar back and forth: they seemed incapable of deciding who would be on top, but it was a momentary concern, because mere seconds passed before Freydis was back between Cendrillon's legs. 

The Nord lost herself in the pleasures of rediscovery, her eager mouth recalling how she tasted, how soft she was, the way her long legs felt draped over her shoulders. She had always had a clever tongue, both in and out of the covers, and no time passed at all before she had Cendrillon dancing at the tip of it, her breath shallow and quick. She was deliciously responsive, and Freydis heard her normally tightly-controlled voice break just a little as she swirled her tongue around her clit. She listened as it became husky and pleading, and as her own did the same, and she was witness to them ceasing to be their titles and instead be reduced to dirty, immodest sounds. This time was different than the last somehow. Less urgent, less physical. They were not sure when they crossed the line but they had. Freydis spoke against her, her lips forming words around her clit and the gentle folds, and she said, with such earnestness that it almost scared her: "Come for me."

Cendrillon's back arched off the bed, as if pulled by a string, and her thighs tightened around Freydis' ears, and then Freydis felt warmth on her chin, the spasm of muscle, and she let her own hand drop to work between her own legs as Cendrillon continued to come against her mouth, and she followed right behind, her own moans and whispers muted by flesh as long fingers tangled themselves in her hair and pulled her closer still, her hips jerking. 

Freydis crawled up along her body, her hands still exploratory, her touches lingering. She rested her head in the valley between Cendrillon's breasts, listened to her heart thud proudly. Neither of them spoke, and Cendrillon felt too still beneath her, as if she were not sure what to do with herself. Freydis was about to roll off of her and apologize, but then she felt a hand in her hair, gently running through the strands, and she felt fingertips brush against her scalp. She closed her eyes for a moment. She wished they had more time. 

They redressed quickly and quietly. Cendrillon wordlessly helped Freydis back into her stolen armor and then stood looking at her. Neither of them had spoken yet, and Freydis stood there nervously, frozen under Cendrillon's cool gaze, until she could not bear it any longer. "What?"

The Altmer smirked at her. "You actually fill that out rather nicely."

Freydis huffed and blushed, feeling every bit like a shy maiden and nothing like the warrior she was supposed to be. She reached for her helmet and was about to slide it on when Cendrillon stopped her and pulled her forward to kiss her, and just like that she was bold again, and brazen, and felt no shame in the pleasure she derived from having the elf pressed flush against her. 

"Perhaps, next time, a bit more warning?" Cendrillon said when they parted, and then she left without a goodbye, because it was unnecessary, and Freydis smiled, and lingered on two words. 

Next time.


End file.
